New Purchases of July

On my last day of my free-student traveling card, Elselien and I went on a shopping spree in Utrecht, a lovely old town in the very center of the Netherlands. During my five years of free student traveling I occasionally went there to shop. Utrecht has a few shops that we do not have up here, in the north. Whenever I am in Utrecht I wont leave before visiting Accessorize, New Yorker, Tally Weijl and Donna Li.

This is what I bought:

Two new skirts. Donna Li on the left and a faux leather one from New Yorker on the right. I absolutely love how the lacy skirt has a pencil skirt-model but is shorter in front. Also the bones make such an elegant shape. The leathery one caught my attention because of its decorated border, which is so well done!

I took these pictures in my clothing room. I promise there will be pictures about the room one day!

Another one of my newer purchases, is this lovely Victorian Black Lace Neck Corset from Decadent Designz. It is hand made in Canada and found its way into my collection of special accessories about two weeks ago. I think it is so beautiful! It is decorative, delicate, sophisticated and yet alternative.

I simply cannot get enough of little black dresses. They make me happy! The next dress is a 5 euro score from a traveling vintage clothing kilo-sale that visited our town at the end of May. It has this absolutely 50's vibe, but is still wearable in our modern times. I like the high neckline, that is created by this big bow that covers the shoulder. So feminine!

Oh, and these beauties, I had seen these in Sasha about a year ago, but were not available in my size anymore and they could not be ordered. Now I found them on the online second hand market, for a very pretty price. They will need some pads on the inside, but other than that I can walk in them pretty well! I am in love!

The spoons in the photos below are also a product of my Utrecht shopping day. I bought them in a store that we also have up here in the north, and basically every other city in the Netherlands, but I never seen these particular spoons. I found them so decorative. They are the perfect cutlery for celebrating a lovely tiramisu!

The frame was something I accidentally bumped into in Mamamini. It was bright red, so my eye had run across it a couple of times before I realized it had potential. And this is the result after three layers of paint. Even though I do not know what to put in the frame, I am loving it!

Last evening I went out for dinner with an old friend of mine, and I had a couple of minutes before she would arrive, so I hopped into a shoe store and impulsively bought a pair of adorbs pumps,with frills.The lacy socks are from Leg Avenue.

There are a couple of other purchases on their way. I ordered a build-it-yourself palette for my Urban Decay eye shadows and I got offered a beautiful outfit from Westward Bound, which must arrive in about three weeks. Exciting!

Welcome to the 16th century

❤ Yes, that is a triangular bandage that I earned by sliding head down a dolmen at my birthday picnic with mom. ❤

❤ Obviously, I had to fabricate my own black bandage, because the one the doctors put on me was white and really distorted my vision since I always saw this big white thing in the bottom of my field of view. And of course I took the opportunity to decorate it with this beautiful brooch that I bought about a year ago (Sixx).❤

❤ These are the dolmen (D45) that I slid off. However; birthday-at-mom-outfit. ❤

Bourtange

❤ These are the plans drawn back in the 15th century. All of this was built and still stands today. ❤

Summer is approaching, so a sunny spring fair lured me to Bourtange, an hour driving away from home. Twenty years ago, when I was very young, my parents brought me to this old fortification that is now a tiny village. That made this trip even more interesting. I had a total nostalgia flashback of the candle makers (oh, that scent of wax!) and the square with the wooden horse (which is actually a replica of an old torture device)!

❤ How can one not be totally in love with these little nostalgic streets?! ❤

❤ For the Minecrafters amongst you, this is what sheers actually look like! And I guess the medieval soup is ready too! ❤

The village, nowadays, is all medieval themed. Late medieval. The pavement cafes at the small center place are served by medieval looking people, the streets are obviously made for walking and once in a while, a group of spear-men walk around the place, following orders of their commander. This play goes through the whole fortification and ends with a canon fire. Of course, the spring fair was all themed in this old fashion as well; in decorations and in drinks and foods. We bought some raw honeycombs to bring home to eat, nom nom!

❤ This was actually the perfect day to come, the weather was beautiful and the people were friendly. ❤

❤ These talkative pirate medievalians served us the sweetest and softest apple juice I had ever drank. Their stand had hinted to old pirates with the faux torches under their parasols and the barrels as tables. ❤

Bourtange was designed and built as a star fort in the 15th and 16th century, to control the main road from Germany to Groningen, one of the larger towns of the Netherlands. During the eighty-years war, it was attacked, but the fort held. After that Bourtange suffered a couple more attacks, but it never fell. Then, in the 18th century, it was not needed as a fort anymore and turned into an agricultural village. Throughout the centuries after, it rumbled down and the moats filled up. about 25 years ago the village was reconstructed, the fortification rebuilt and the moats got dug up again, in their original star shape.

Here is a link to old photo's of Bourtange. Such a different world it was back then!

* Old Photos of Bourtange*

❤ Mils and green grass, so Dutch! This wheat mill was easily de- and reconstructable in case of war. ❤

❤ Walking on the counterguards. Bourtange outfit: dress by Donna Li, Tights from Coolcat and my home made sling. ❤

As a perfect finish of the day I plucked Elderberry blossom in the wild. The scent of these little white flowers remind me of when I was little. Mom used to make the most delicious lemonade and pancakes with them. Now, twenty years later I am the one making those ElderberryBlossom pancakes and lemonade.

❤ Elderberry blossom¹ ❤

Red riding coat.

Last weeks the sun has shyly started to shine and I find it inspiring. Last Wednesday I put my inspiration to the test, going second hand shopping with mom and my personal style advisor, Eric. We got in the car and drove to Drachten, having heard this town has large and interesting secondhand shops. Eventually we spent the entire afternoon in only two shops. Large they were. And so cheap! Around 5 o'clock in the eve, we headed back home, all of us satisfied with our purchases.

♥ Shopping outfit. Dress, Vero Moda; Tights, CoolCat; Necklace, New Yorker. ♥

♥ New shoes, Van Haren. I bought a second pair after wearing them for one day. They fit all the requirements; cute, black, heels and comfy ♥

As for what I purchased on our shopping adventure; three bags. One backpack to replace the one I have now, completely worn off. Yet another camera bag, with red inside, and hard cover. This one needs some fixing, so no pics yet. And the third bag is more like a suitcase, British vintage style. When arriving home I realized it matches so perfectly with my British red coat! Proof below. 

♥ Coat is a secondhand find from like ten years ago in Hungary, brand Collector. The suitcase is a vintage secondhand find. ♥

I can totally imagine myself, standing on the station to go to my childhood home for a day or two. Waiting for the bus, with this suitcase and that coat. ♥ Usually I go there with just a small purse with the necessary stuff, and when I return home, I am carrying bags full of stuff mom gives me, like flowers, food, magazines and of course stuff that we shop together. This suitcase will be perfect for these occasions!

Some dark semi metal music I have discovered recently and totally like:

 In This Moment

Aesthetic Perfection

Sunny afternoon in March

I really needed to get away from everything a bit, back to my roots, under the wings of mom and the comfort of my childhood home. As my friend Harmany said, no matter how young or old, moms fix everything. It was great being away and spend some time with her. But honestly, it was also very nice returning back to my independent adult life up here in the north.

♥ The dress is one of my newest ones, originally from Vero Moda. I love how timeless it looks. ♥

Our lazy morning was spent sleeping and slowly waking up, being just on time for a ten o' clock coffee. Or tea for me.
Our afternoon was spent shopping and having a small improvised picnic at a nearby lake, with a fresh mix of melons and a pale late afternoon sun.

♥ The faux pockets are just plain gorgeous! ♥

During our shopventure we ended up in a hat shop and the woman put me into all sorts of hats. It took her a while to accept that I would only try on black hats, and no other color! I totally love the one below. I think I like it because I actually own a similar one, that I hardly ever wear. I didn't buy it. Even though with this classic look it would rock.

Sweet cold October

♥October has started. The season of cosiness, shortened days, pumpkins, mushrooms and acorns!♥

Sunday brought a super cute autumn fair to town. Little stands were selling home made breads and honeys and lots of adorable brocant home decorations. The market was small scaled, but totally adorable. Organized in the backyard of a farm, semi in the barn, semi outside. The (possible) last rays of sun of the year made all the colors even brighter.

♥ lovely little bed side tables we bought (are being painted atm ♥ lanterns hanging from the willow ♥ decorative laundry drying between trees ♥ brocant home deco and jewelry stand ♥ baskets full of signs of autumn; pine cones, corns and acorns ♥ "Hi nice you were here bye" ♥


♥ Flowers, berries and an apple. Everything looks better when the sun lays its shine on it. ♥

♥ Even Animal Crossing celebrates autumn with the Acorn Festival! Collecting acorns and donating them to Cornimer makes him give you presents, which are mushroom furniture! (mush stand, mush lamp, mush chair, much closet, mush bed, mush tv, mush dresser, mush table and mush stool) ♥

Then what really made the Sunday complete was a nice walk in the woods near my childhood home. With my brother we looked for chestnuts. The edible ones were really small and still immature, so no chestnut paste this week. We looked for beechnuts and hazel nuts, but I guess it really still is too early for good nuts. However, the saw the beautifulest mushrooms, in a variety of colors; red (of course) and black and purple!

♥ After one and half hours in the woods, mom awaited us at home with home made pancakes. That is just THE perfect finish for an autumny walk in the woods on a Sunday in October♥